Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 3%; Autodesk Shares Climb On Earnings Beat

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.26 percent to 24,570.14 while the NASDAQ declined 0.63 percent to 7,325.46. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.87 percent to 2,704.37.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares slipped by just 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Medifast Inc MED, up 32 percent, and Cambium Learning Group, Inc. ABCD, up 8 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 1.48 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. HOS, down 7 percent, and Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd (USA) AAV down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF reported better-than-expected quarterly results for its fourth quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch reported adjusted earnings of $1.38 per share on sales of $1.193 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.10 per share on sales of $1.16 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Medifast Inc MED shares shot up 32 percent to $88.85 following a fourth quarter earnings and sales beat. The company issued strong first quarter and FY18 guidance.

Shares of Regenxbio Inc RGNX got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $34.65 as the company posted strong Q4 results.

Autodesk, Inc. ADSK shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $134.99 after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc WHLR shares dropped 18 percent to $4.07 following Q4 results. The investment trust posted funds from operations of $1.7 million.

Shares of Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR were down 16 percent to $88.04 after the company posted downbeat quarterly earnings and issued a weak forecast.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SPPI was down, falling around 19 percent to $17.02 following Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3 percent to $60.72 while gold traded down 0.75 percent to $1,325.20.

Silver traded down 1.90 percent Wednesday to $16.465, while copper fell 0.84 percent to $3.1325.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.36 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.13 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.22 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.09 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.34 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.16 percent.

Economics

Private sector employers added 235,000 jobs for February, according to the ADP national employment report. However, economists were expecting a gain of 195,000 jobs.

The U.S. trade deficit gained 5 percent to 56.6 billion in January, versus $53.9 billion in December. Economists projected a $55.2 billion deficit. Exports slipped 1.3 percent, while imports were unchanged in January.

U.S. nonfarm productivity was unchanged in the fourth quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.10 percent decline.

Domestic crude supplies gained 2.41 million barrels for the week ended March 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts expected a gain of 3 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles slipped 788,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell 559,000 barrels for the week.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its Beige Book report.

Data on consumer credit for January will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.